Increasing Demand for Online Healthcare

A blog post by Freetest.me, posted on the 9th of October 2014.

Survey Shows Increasing Demand for Online Healthcare

The Secret Life of Students gave us an insight into just how reliant we can be on our phones and on the internet, with two of the students even taking to social media to vent about their run in with chlamydia. While most of us don’t share that much detail online, it’s probably not too far from the truth.

Most of us now find it impossible to go a day without checking Whatsapp, sending a Snapchat or tweeting about the pile of work we really should be doing. Let’s be honest, much of our time online is spent procrastinating, but there are plenty of apps and websites there for us to help us get organised too. From savings accounts to STI testing, it’s all there for us.

So with things as important as our bank accounts being readily available online and on our phones, it’s not surprising that healthcare is following suit. It’s more convenient, and it could be better for your health. Making certain services easier to access without the restrictions of opening times and removing the embarrassment associated with others could encourage more people to use them.

In a survey to find out just which health services people would be willing to use online, pharmacy2ufound that 69% of those asked said they would book a doctor’s appointment and 67% would order a repeat prescription. Participants were also keen to cut the pressure on GP surgeries, with 32% saying they would happily use online services to help do so.

Although participants were keen to use online health services, more than three quarters didn’t know that some aspects of healthcare were already being made available online. 77% said that they weren’t aware the NHS were replacing paper prescriptions with electronic ones in certain areas of the UK.

At freetest.me we know how much of a difference online services can make and the feedback we get from our users shows that they feel the same. Many prefer to order a home test kit because they feel that going to the clinic can be ‘daunting’ or that they simply haven’t got the time to go. In fact, in areas of the UK where the freetest.me service is not available (because we're not funded) we ask people waht they'll do next, and over 80% tell us they'll "not bother" to seek alternate testing.

You can order a chlamydia test kit online from us without even having to get out of bed, if you’re phone’s close enough. Each test kit comes with easy to follow instructions so you can feel comfortable testing yourself at home. Once you’ve returned your completed test we aim to be as quick as possible processing it. Some even say we’re quicker than the clinic.

If you forget to return your test we’ll send you a reminder to complete it, and if your results do come back positive for chlamydia we’ll put you in touch with the right people in your area to help you get treated.